What made you decide to become an artist? What is your background ?
I have been painting since the age of 14. A drawing teacher from the college had spotted my spontaneous know-how in this area. She encouraged me to continue. Also with a certain taste for science, my entourage advised me to study in this field to ensure my independence. This is how I followed the INSA Lyon engineering course. However, I never stopped painting, whether during my studies or later in parallel with my scientific work. Courses at the Petit College (school of applied arts in Lyon) later supplemented my spontaneous know-how.
What are the 3 things that make you different from other artists?
1 - I am self-taught but professional (I have a number, siret) 2 - My work is not linked to any particular school or fashion, otherwise, according to the critics, the surrealism current or that of fantastic realism. 3 - I often use an airbrush in order to obtain smooth surfaces, precise drawings, gradations of color and light, this on canvases coated with a coating based on carefully sanded marble powder.
Where does your inspiration come from?
A reading, a musical piece, a landscape the memory of which inspires a canvas.
Tell us about the conception of your works, do you have a long preparatory work or is it quite spontaneous?
The preparatory work is technical: it is that of the fabrics themselves, coated and sanded with care. The subject of the painting can come very spontaneously, like a vision, in which case I must realize it without delay, the risk being that "the vision" will fly away! But I can also work from a book whose content is close to me, such as, recently, "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, or the predictions of Nostradamus. "Currently I am trying to work from musical pieces by letting my hand run over the canvas, the mind at rest as much as possible .... a kind of meditation.
What do you want to show through your work?
I do not seek to denounce or promote anything ... I leave this care to journalists, columnists, writers and painters who feel invested with this mission. The subjects of my paintings are dictated to me by a need to re-enchant the current world, where all reality can only be grasped through quantity and the calculating machine, where objects are stripped of all wonderful meaning. , where the cosmos and nature, considered as a great mechanism, are a world of objects to study, analyze, classify, calculate, measure. I fully subscribe to Wassily Kandinsky's words when he reveals the obvious and the essential: “Painting is an art, and art as a whole is not a creation without a goal that flows in a void. . It is a power whose aim must be to develop and improve the human soul. ”. Painting, like any art, is finally a privileged mode of communication with others, an invitation to share ideas and emotions, where the feeling must take precedence over the reflected.
In your work do you use techniques or materials that are out of the ordinary?
I use canvas coated and finely sanded so that no more grain appears. I then sketch in dry pastel on surfaces as silky and smooth as velvet, finally I work with an oil or acrylic glaze.
Do you have a favorite format? Why ?
20 and 25 point (figure or landscape) the dimensions are reasonable and the price accessible to many collectors.
What difficulties do you encounter in your work?
Availability associated with tranquility (see solitude), two elements that are often incompatible with social life, whether friendly or family. A place of retirement, far from daily material contingencies, would in my opinion be very favorable to my creativity. In addition, the time spent promoting my work, essential as it is, is time "stolen" from my meditation time essential to my work.
How do you work? At home, in a shared workshop, in your own workshop?
I work in my own workshop.
Does the work of an artist take you to travel a lot?
In France ... yes. But little abroad because I refused many attractive but also expensive proposals and loaded with "powder in the eyes" which I let myself be taken a few times .... with the experience I think and inform myself as carefully as possible before signing a seemingly interesting contract.
What has been the best moment of your career?
The best moments were meetings. The first meeting was that of a couple who are friends of my family, whom I had not seen since the age of 11. They came to one of my exhibition in Savoie to see a poster with my name that he had not forgotten! Chance does not exist, thanks to them I exhibited for the first time in Paris then Brest etc ..... and sold several paintings! During an exhibition in Lyon, a diamond dealer, who was previously a paintings dealer, fell in love with my painting and has since acquired several paintings. Likewise, a professional soldier, met the first time in Grenoble, then several times afterwards during various exhibitions, analyzed my paintings, making me discover the story that I systematically told through each of them ... discovery of myself in a way. This person has acquired several paintings .....
How do you see your work in ten years?
Difficult to answer this question .... I always hope for enriching encounters that will help me advance in my work and a more in-depth knowledge of myself.
What are you currently working on? Are you planning an exhibition soon?
Currently I work from musical pieces by letting my hand run on the canvas, the mind at rest as much as possible .... a kind of meditation. I am also in contact with the Rhône-Alpes region with a view to an exhibition, still distant, in the castle where Antoine de Saint Exupéry spent his childhood. This Château, bought by the region in 2020, is to house a museum in memory of Saint Exupéry. For this project I also work and again on the book "The Little Prince", !!!!
If you could have created a masterpiece in the history of art, which one would you choose? Why ?
"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch. It is a marvel of imagination, invention, symbol, both funny and worrying. The production is also of great finesse.
If you could invite a famous artist for dinner (dead or alive), which one would you choose? Why ?
Alive: Pierre Soulage Died: Wassily Kandinsky .... but there are many others !!!!
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
